March to Marquette: 8-Player Preview
November 22, 2019
By Geoff Kimmerly
Second Half editor
For the second straight season, the majority of teams making the trip to the 8-Player Finals at Northern Michigan University’s Superior Dome will come seeking their first MHSAA football championship.
Colon, Suttons Bay and Pickford will be first-time title hopefuls Saturday. Portland St. Patrick is seeking its first football title since 1992, long before any of these current players was born.
Kickoff for the Division 1 game is 11 a.m., with the Division 2 game following at 2 p.m. Tickets cost $10 and one is good for admittance to both games. Both games also will be broadcast live on FOXSportsDetroit.com and the FOX Sports app, and replayed on FOX Sports Detroit’s primary channel on Nov. 26 – Division 1 at 8 p.m. and Division 2 at 11 p.m. Audio of both games will be streamed live on MHSAANetwork.com.
Below is a look at all four finalists. Team “rankings” are based on their playoff-point averages heading into the postseason.
Division 1
COLON
Record/rank: 12-0, No. 2
Coach: Robbie Hattan, fourth season (28-13)
League finish: First in Southern Central Athletic Association A
Championship history: Has never played in an MHSAA Final.
Best wins: 27-8 over No. 6 Morrice in Semifinal, 56-12 over No. 3 Martin in Regional Final, 60-12 (Pre-Regional) and 55-0 over No. 13 Camden-Frontier, 43-8 over No. 11 Bellevue, 42-0 over Division 2 No. 5 Climax-Scotts.
Players to watch: RB/DL Brandon Crawford, 6-2/240, jr. (1,491 yards/22 TDs rushing); SL/DB/P Jonathan West, 6-2/160, sr. (653 yards/7 TDs rushing, 498 yards/12 TDs receiving); QB/DB Phillip Alva, 5-9/140, sr. (954 yards/19 TDs passing, 903 yards/17 TDs rushing).
Outlook: Colon moved to 8-player before the 2018 season after a nice recent run in 11-player that had included eight playoff appearances over the previous 14 seasons. But the Magi have succeeded at a higher level since making the switch, putting up double-digit wins last season for the first time and again this fall. Last season’s champion Morrice was the first opponent to hold Colon to under 34 points and also the first to come within 34 of catching the Magi this fall. Crawford and West both earned all-state honorable mentions in 2018, and 6-4 junior Brayden Ireland gives Alva another big target in the passing game. West also has scored off interceptions and punt and kickoff returns this season.
SUTTONS BAY
Record/rank: 12-0, No. 4
Coach: Garrick Opie, second season (21-2)
League finish: First in Midwest Central Michigan Conference West
Championship history: Division 6 runner-up 2004 (11-player).
Best wins: 45-14 over No. 8 Kingston in Semifinal, 36-30 over No. 14 Gaylord St. Mary in Regional Final, 36-14 over No. 16 Brimley in Pre-Regional, 20-14 and 29-18 over Division 2 No. 9 Onekama.
Players to watch: RB/DB Lucas Mikesell, 5-11/175, sr. (1,259 yards/29 TDs rushing, 501 yards/9 TDs receiving), QB/DB Bryce Opie, 6-4/194, sr. (1,167 yards/15 TDs passing, 692 yards/13 TDs rushing); OG/DT Gavyn Shananaquet, 6-0/230, sr.
Outlook: Suttons Bay has run its record over three seasons of 8-player to a combined 28-6 after being forced to end its final 11-player season early in 2016. The Norsemen had only three games decided by single digits this fall. The first was a six-point win over Onekama, and Suttons Bay won the rematch by 11, and the other two were against Gaylord St. Mary – a one-point loss on the field that became a forfeit win and a six-point win in the Regional Final. The defense has been especially impressive, giving up 16.7 points per game on the season but more than 18 only twice (both times to St. Mary). Bryce Opie also has five interceptions, and the team had a 23-14 turnover advantage heading into last week’s Semifinal.
Division 2
PORTLAND ST. PATRICK
Record/rank: 12-0, No. 3
Coach: Patrick Russman, 13th season (88-48)
League finish: Does not play in a league.
Championship history: Division 2 runner-up 2017 (8-player), Class D champion 1992, runner-up 1991 and 1997 (11-player).
Best wins: 49-6 over No. 5 Climax-Scotts in Semifinal, 51-16 over No. 11 Kinde North Huron in Regional Final, 45-0 over No. 16 Bay City All-Saints in Pre-Regional, 42-24 over No. 9 Onekama.
Players to watch: RB/DL Ned Smith, 5-10/195, sr. (1,510 yards/24 TDs rushing); QB/DB Connor Cross, 6-2/175, jr. (1,688 yards/36 TDs passing); WR/DB Zach Spitzley, 6-2/180, sr. (1,133 yards/19 TDs receiving).
Outlook: The Shamrocks have made at least the Semifinals the last three seasons and four times since switching to 8-player in 2012, and this has been their most successful run of all four. St. Patrick has won all of its games by at least 18 points (not counting a 2-0 forfeit in Week 3) and by an average score of 52-10. Senior linebacker Alex Kissane, sophomore linebacker Derec Fedewa, senior defensive back Riley Kissane and senior lineman Jeff Davlin are among leaders of a defense that has given up more than 16 points only twice and a combined 22 points over three playoff games.
PICKFORD
Record/rank: 11-1, T-No. 1
Coach: Josh Rader, 16th season (110-55)
League finish: First in Great Lakes Eight Conference East
Championship history: Division 1 runner-up 2018 (8-player).
Best wins: 22-14 over T-No. 1 Powers North Central in Regional Finals, 40-8 over No. 4 Hillman in Semifinal, 57-12 (Pre-Regional) and 58-15 over No. 6 Engadine, 48-16 over No. 7 Crystal Falls Forest Park, 64-20 over No. 12 Cedarville, 46-23 over Division 1 No. 14 Gaylord St. Mary.
Players to watch: QB/LB Jimmy Storey, 6-0/185, sr. (1,400 yards/19 TDs passing, 1,809 yards/24 TDs rushing); TE/DE Nick Edington, 6-7/220, sr. (307 yards/3 TDs receiving); RB/DB Stephen Lamothe, 5-10/175, sr. (752 yards/11 TDs rushing, 813 yards/11 TDs receiving).
Outlook: After reaching last season’s Division 1 championship game with a junior-heavy roster, Pickford is back playing for its first Finals championship with many of the same standouts. Edington, Storey and senior lineman Isaiah May all made the all-state team last season, and Storey was the statewide Player of the Year for 8-player by The Associated Press. The team’s only loss this fall came in Week 3, by six points, to Powers North Central – and the Panthers avenged the defeat in the Regional Final. The Jets also were the only team able to hold Pickford under 40 points this fall. Senior running back Isaac Brown provides another valuable option on offense with 613 yards and 12 touchdowns rushing.
St. Mary's Shifts Into Higher Gear, Finishes Finals Return Back on Top
By
Tom Kendra
Special for MHSAA.com
November 29, 2024
DETROIT – Orchard Lake St. Mary’s football already had won eight Finals titles and finished second six times. But before Friday, it hadn’t played in a championship game since 2016.
Which for the Eaglets felt like an eternity.
“This is where Orchard Lake belongs – playing games after Thanksgiving,” said third-year coach Jermaine Gonzalez, a former standout for the Eaglets who went on to play at Michigan. “The goal when I took this job was getting back to getting here every year. For St. Mary’s football, that is the standard.”
That “drought” was wiped out in emphatic fashion Friday night, as OLSM defeated a physical Byron Center team at its own game, at the line of scrimmage, in a 35-19 win in the Division 2 Final at Ford Field.
St. Mary’s (11-3), which had to watch as Catholic High School League rival Warren De La Salle Collegiate played in six of the last seven Division 2 Finals, made a magical run after finishing fourth in the CHSL Central with a 2-3 league record.
All of those losses came against powerhouse programs – De La Salle, Detroit Catholic Central and Toledo Central Catholic – which Gonzales said prepared his team for anything in the postseason.
“We knew all year that with our tough schedule, we would be battle-tested,” said Gonzales. “I think you saw that out there tonight.”
Byron Center, which finished 12-2 after advancing past Regionals for the first time in school history, came out of the gate on fire Friday, thrilling its huge throng of orange and black-clad fans.
Senior Kellen Payne, a Division I baseball commit to Nevada, opened the scoring on a nine-yard run. After a seven-yard run by St. Mary’s Darrin Jones Jr. tied the game, the Bulldogs went ahead early in the second quarter on a 56-yard burst around right end by sophomore Cam Payne, Kellen’s younger brother, making it 13-7.
But at that point, St. Mary’s was able to find another level on both sides of the ball, swinging the game’s momentum.
It started on offense late in the second quarter, as OLSM went 47 yards in eight plays, capped by a 12-yard scoring run from Michigan State commit Bryson Williams, which gave it a 14-13 halftime lead.
“We tell our linemen that if they beat their guy up front, we will do our part running behind them,” explained OLSM senior running back Bryson Williams, one of three Michigan State prospects on the roster, along with linebacker Charles White and tight end Jayden Savoury.
Jones and Williams proved to be a lethal 1-2 punch out of the backfield. Jones led all rushers with 21 carries for 181 yards and two touchdowns, while Williams added 13 rushes for 109 yards and two TDs.
In the third quarter, St. Mary’s defense took over with a series of big hits. Defensive tackle Ryan Harrington came up with a huge sack on Byron Center quarterback Landon Tungate less than a minute into the second half, causing a fumble which teammate Kyrie Williams pounced on. Two plays later, Williams dashed in from three yards out – giving the Eaglets a 21-13 lead, which they would never relinquish.
The most decisive moment came late in the third quarter, when the Eaglets faced a 4th-and-17 from the Bulldogs’ 33-yard line. With Kellen Payne right in his face, 6-foot-4 senior quarterback Axel Newell hung in and delivered an absolute dime to Angelo Chapman running up the seam for a 33-yard score and a 28-13 lead.
The Bulldogs, who brought the biggest crowd of the day despite a snowstorm in West Michigan, kept coming back behind senior quarterback Landon Tungate, who entered the Final with 23 passing TDs and 25 rushing.
Tungate finally got a score at Ford Field with 10:45 remaining in the game, bursting 10 yards up the middle. The 2-point conversion pass was stopped short, making the score 28-19.
“This team is never going to quit, no matter what,” explained Tungate. “It’s been a great ride for our team and our town, and I’m just happy I got to be a part of it.”
Tungate finished 9-of-16 passing for 49 yards and rushed 16 times for 90 yards. Cam Payne rushed eight times for 122 yards and caught two passes.
Landen Conrad led Byron Center’s defense with 10 tackles, Kellen Payne made nine tackles and Luke Laska had eight stops.
“We lost to a really good football team with a lot of weapons,” said 16th-year Byron Center coach Marc Cisco. “They really stretch your defense and find a weak spot. All of their backs run hard.”
Jones iced the victory, capping a 63-yard OLSM drive with a four-yard scoring run with 3:33 remaining.
Linebacker Christopher Coates was the leading tackler for St. Mary’s with 10. Ryan Fresquez and Kyrie Williams each made six tackles, and Harrington had five tackles – including three for loss and the crucial forced fumble in the third quarter.
PHOTOS (Top) Orchard Lake St. Mary’s Darrin Jones (5) breaks into an opening during Saturday’s Division 2 Final at Ford Field. (Middle) The Eaglets’ Bryson Williams (4) attempts to break away from Byron Center’s Isaac Lee. (Below) St. Mary’s coach Jermaine Gonzales raises the championship trophy as his players cheer. (Photos by Hockey Weekly Action Photos.)